You Can't Stop Me
by Gatirtoh
Summary: Blackfire is in prison when she meets Red X, a human criminal with the same goals as her - get revenge on the Teen Titans. With the help of her new ally, Blackfire will execute her plan to get revenge and regain control of Tameran.
1. Prologue

Blackfire sat in the corner of her cell, arms crossed in annoyance. Once again her little sister had caused her temporary downfall. But you could never stop Blackfire for long. She was already working on an escape plan.

"Dinner!" called the prison guard. He thrust a plate of disgusting-looking food into Blackfire's cell. She grimaced in disgust. Most of her acquaintances would have expected her to haughtily refuse to eat it, but Blackfire knew that if she was going to get out of this pit, she couldn't afford to turn away food. She ate all of it.

When she was done, Blackfire lay down on her small cot, arms crossed behind her head. She began to think. _I think the food is drugged. That presents a challenge – I can't use my starbolts during escape. But I can still fly and use my physical strength. I should be able to take out the guards toward the north entrance easily enough. After that I can make my escape. _

She sighed and pursed her lips, still thinking.

_Ultimately, I want to regain control of Tamaran. But they'll be keeping an eye out for me…I'll have to take a more circuitous route than the method I used to become Grand Ruler last time. So where should I go after my escape? _

She mulled over this for a few moments.

_Earth, _she decided, _I'll go to Earth. But I have to make sure Starfire doesn't know that I'm there, or she and her little friends will try to capture me again. What to do…_

A smooth male voice interrupted her planning.

"Whatever you're thinking of to try and get out of here, it's not going to work."

Blackfire glanced toward its source. A human wearing black clothing and a skull mask with a red 'X' on it was sitting in the corner of the cell next to hers.

She smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure."

"I'm Red X, by the way," the human told her.

She snorted. "That's creative."

The human shrugged. "This suit actually used to belong to someone else. I just named myself after it."

Blackfire rolled her eyes. "Really? How interesting."

"Hey, you look like that chick I met when I was trying to steal some Xenothium. She had red hair. But she was tall like you, and you look alike."

Blackfire immediately sat up. "What was her name?"

Red X laughed quietly. "I'm not sure...it was a weird name. Starry Night or something like that."

"Starfire?" Blackfire asked him.

"Yeah, that was it. Why?"

"I need to find her…she's the one who put me in here." Blackfire's eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth turned down.

"Well then, we have something in common," Red X replied. She could tell by his tone that he was smiling. "I wouldn't mind some vengeance from her myself. She and her friends caused some trouble for me a while ago."

Blackfire's small smile returned. "Starfire is mine. You can have the others."

Red X sat back. "Do you wanna get out of here?"

Blackfire placed an elbow on her knee and leaned her chin on her hand. "I'm listening," she drawled.


	2. Great Criminal Minds

Blackfire paused.

"A team? I don't think so. I prefer to work alone."

Red X laughed. "More like an alliance. You help me grab some Xenothium and a few more odd jobs, and I help you get your sister and become ruler of Tameran again.

Blackfire began to smile again. "Sounds interesting. I'll think about it."

Red X grunted. "Well, hurry up and think. You've got two days before they're transferring you to a maximum-security prison on Garvag IV." Blackfire glanced at him.

"How do you know that?"

"I have good ears." He chuckled quietly and held up a small radio. Blackfire smiled.

"You bugged them."

"Yes."

"I'm beginning to think you'll make a good ally after all."

"Great! Then you can have a look at this." He held up a small piece of paper. Blackfire's smile widened.

"Blueprints?"

"Give the girl a prize. See, right here," he pointed to the northwest corner of the blueprint, "there's a weak area of the wall that leads to a secret passage. You and I should be able to take it out together. And there are no guards posted in that area, so we can probably get to it easily."

Blackfire laughed quietly. "Better. If I can get rid of the drugs in my food, we can just blast the whole place."

Red X looked at her, startled, then remembered that she was Tameranian. "Right. Well, I do have an anti-toxin…but only one. That means that, being a human, I'll be pretty drowsy when we actually break out." He hesitated. "You'll have to carry me out of here." Blackfire grinned. "Then we'll be even. I get the anti-toxin, I help you escape."

Red X seemed to smile as well. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," Blackfire quoted.

Red X shook his head. "Great _criminal_ minds think alike." He spat on his hand and held it out between the bars.

Blackfire grinned. She spat on her own hand, and shook hands with Red X, sealing their deal. But afterwards, instead of letting go, Red X removed his mask partway to kiss her hand. Blackfire laughed quietly and extracted her hand from his.

"We have a deal?"

"We have a deal."

It didn't matter who said what, because they were both thinking the same thing.


	3. The Breakout

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Red X asked, a little drowsily but still urgently.

Blackfire smirked and nodded. "Are you?"

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. "…Yeah. Let's go." Blackfire, having already injected herself with the syringe containing Red X's last anti-toxin, had already noticed that the usual effects of the drugs in her terrible prison food were absent. She was beginning to feel the power seeping back into her, and if she concentrated, she could form a small ball of starbolt energy on her hand. A few more minutes was all it would take, and then she would be at full strength, and she could escape.

Last night Blackfire had spent several hours mulling over whether to ditch Red X after she took the anti-toxin, since she had the feeling he might do the same thing to her later, but she had eventually ruled it out. If she left him in prison he would remember her betrayal until he was released, and then hunt her down. If she took him with her, he would be out of prison, with other things to do, and he probably wouldn't hold a grudge against her for abandoning him, which she could always do later anyway. So she would let him tag along.

Blackfire bent aside the bars separating her from her accomplice and picked him up as easily as she would have a rag doll. She quickly spotted the weak spot in the wall, and a well-aimed starbolt blast blew through the bars of her cell and the wall. She bolted for the hole and was out and away from that cursed facility before the guards could blink, and that was that. Now, the only important issue was what kind of fun she should have first…

~AN: Hi guys! See, I haven't forgotten you after all. Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter, and I'm sorry it's so short. But at least Blackfire and Red X are out now, so I can build on that more easily (it's kind of hard to write about prison, because it's kind of monotonous.)


	4. A Team?

Blackfire stood up and dusted herself off. "Well. That was easier than I expected."

She couldn't see Red X's face because he was wearing his mask, but she could tell by his tone that he was smirking. "Because you have such a capable partner, right?"

She turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you joking? You were practically catatonic the entire time."

She could practically hear his smile drop like a dead fly. "I gave you the antidote to the drugs."

Blackfire snorted. "Yeah, because I'm the Tamaranean. Not like you could've gotten out by yourself if _you'd_ taken the antidote instead of me."

Red X did not respond, and merely turned his face away from her. Blackfire shrugged and floated upwards. _Better ditch this loser if he's gonna turn into deadweight. The most important thing right now is finding Starfire, not making friends. _

"Wait," came a voice from beneath her. Blackfire paused. "We were supposed to be partners." Blackfire did not look down. "Were," she replied with emphasis.

"We had a deal," he protested. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"No," she replied bluntly. Why lie? She would go back on her word if she wanted. Honor was for thieves and fools. All Blackfire wanted was revenge. Keeping promises was only necessary if she wanted a solid alliance, and that wasn't necessary now.

She heard him sigh. "Look- I can help you, all right? We went over this before. I've met the Teen Titans. I have ideas, I know exactly where to find them, I-"

"You think I don't know where they live?" Blackfire interrupted, laughing hollowly. "I'd be a pretty poor strategist if I didn't even know that before I went to get my sweet revenge from my dear sister. No, I'm sorry, but you are unnecessary and will most likely slow me down in my ventures."

"You'll get more," he said suddenly, just as she was about to leave again. She stopped

"What?" the princess asked blankly.

"More than what you're going for. After you're done, after you get revenge, what will you do?"

She straightened, and looked back down at the masked man. "I will regain control of Tamaran. Of course. I am the rightful leader. Tamaran will prosper under my rule."

Red X chuckled. "And how are you going to that?"

Blackfire smirked. "I'll think of something. It shouldn't be too hard. The people of my planet have gone soft. That little squabble with the Gordanians…? Insignificant. It barely affected anything on the planet at all. They haven't fought a _real_ war in a long time."

He was silent for a moment, and then spoke again. "Are you going to do it by yourself?"

That made her think. Of course she couldn't do it alone. She'd already done that, and it had worked well until Starfire had overthrown her – but they would be on the lookout now. She had been exiled from the planet. She could possibly return, but it would take a lot of effort and she would be able to accomplish almost nothing by herself once she was there, especially without the Jewel of Charta that she had obtained in those awful negotiations. She would need…she would need an army.

"No. No, of course I won't do it alone."

"I have connections, Blackfire. I know who can help you."

She glared at him. "I am not a pariah anywhere but my own planet, you know. I have friends too."

"Yeah – your little alien friends that either have already been humiliated and defeated by Tamaran or are too weak to do anything."

Perhaps she was being too stubborn. There was no point in arguing with a potential resource. She had no obligation to keep cooperating with him, and she could ditch him anytime. Why should she try so hard _not_ to work with him when he could be helpful? All right, then that was settled.

"Very well. You'll help me? I'll need allies. Capable, not just a huge group of imbeciles."

"Done." His tone had changed – he was smiling again.

"Wipe that grin off your face or the deal's off."

"Yessir." He was still smiling. Did he think that just because he wore a mask, she didn't know his facial expression? Obviously he'd never been to Satvramola Beta, where all the diplomats wore masks.

"I'm not joking."

"Okay." He stopped smiling.

"Now- back to the subject at hand. World domination comes later. Right now, I just need to get revenge."

"Why do you hate your sister so much?"

Blackfire glanced at him. "You're my 'partner,' so I'll tell you. Ever since we were children, she has always interfered with anything I've tried to do. Always standing there like a little angel, so perfect, so _innocent_ – " she snarled, then took a breath. "Starfire was chosen as the crown princess. I was the older one. Of course I would make a much better leader than her – she is too soft, too kind. Weak. She doesn't know how much leaders have to detach themselves from everything around them in order to retain their sanity."

Red X interrupted her. "Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans – he's always being all buddy-buddy with his team members, and he seems pretty sane."

Her eyes flashed purple. "Never presume to know another's mind. I am sure he hides far more from his 'friends' than they would like. And he is a little insane. I have seen it more than once. The gleam in his eye…is different than the rest of them. The dark girl, her too. Though I suppose it is a little more obvious with her, because she does not try to appear happy all the time."

"You really have spent some time with them, haven't you?" He sounded surprised.

"Yes. They are the most disgusting creatures on this planet. I would be proud of my own planet simply for not having humans, if I didn't hate the Tamaraneans so much. But that is not the point. We need to get going."

"But, uh…where are we going to go?"

She shot a lavender starbolt close to his head, but he didn't flinch. "Allies, you imbecile! Even with both of us, we cannot take five of them at once. They have power and teamwork on their side, and the strength of their friendship."

"Why does friendship matter?" he snorted. "Being chummy doesn't improve ability."

Blackfire rolled her eyes. "You're even more ignorant than I thought! In the past, many such as we have underestimated the power of emotional bonds. Friendship improves cooperation, and makes you stronger. Of course it is not necessarily required, and is an obvious potential weak point in leaders, which is why I try to avoid it. But do not treat it so lightly."

Red X crossed his arms. "Lighten up, will you?"

She fired up a starbolt on her left hand, ready to kill him, then let it fade. Temper was no good. She must always be detached. If she could not see the potential risks of anger, then her downfall would come all the more quickly.

"This is not something to laugh at," she told him. Her tone was quiet but in no way kind. "The most important thing to me now is to have my revenge. If you don't want to help me do that, fine. If you want to go and have a good time and then live the rest of your life in a cardboard box on the street, fine. If you want to be just another nobody like all the rest of the puny little humans on this planet, fine! But you won't bring me down with you. I am going to crush my sister into the dust, no matter how long it takes me, no matter how much I have to give up. My ultimate goal is not to 'lighten up'."

Red X did not respond, merely jumped upwards. Blackfire was not surprised when he didn't fall back down – of course he would have jet packs.

She motioned for him to follow as she soared as fast as she could over the barren landscape.


	5. Working With Red X Is Not Fun

Blackfire bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.

The buzzing noise coming from those _stupid, stupid_ jet packs was driving her absolutely _insane_.

"Something wrong, Blackie?" came the inquiry, in an amused baritone voice, from behind her.

"Shut the hell up!" Blackfire snarled. "Can't you turn down those moronic jet packs a little? I'm trying to concentrate!"

" On what?"

"Thinking, you imbecile."

"My question was directed at the nature of the subject of your ponderings."

_The nature of the subject of your ponderings, _Blackfire warbled mockingly inside her head. "I'm trying to think about what sort of shady characters I could get to help me get my revenge on my sister and take my rightful place on the throne of Tamaran."

"Hm. I think I might have a suggestion," Red X commented, sounding a little more serious.

Blackfire whirled around in midair so fast that Red X almost slammed into her. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide. "Who?"

"His name's Gregory."

The eyes narrowed. "Gregory what?"

Red X shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the straps of his jet pack – not really a smart idea, Blackfire observed in some corner of her mind; they were _very_ high up. "Just Gregory."

This time, her eyebrows came down. "He doesn't reveal his surname." It wasn't a question.

X coughed. "You know, a lot of great masterminds of crime don't disclose their surnames… Slade, for example."

There was a brief silence, then Blackfire snorted. "Slade. You don't know what you're talking about. He had all these grandiose plans for taking over the world and giving the Titans the boot, but what did it all come to? Nothing. And that's what he is."

Red X stared at her. She could almost feel the awe glowing from his eyes into her face, the amazement that she had the audacity to put down Slade and mean it, and the experience to know that every word she said was true, at least in her mind. And she also knew that if she came across Slade, she would say the same to his face. He'd be wiped off the face of the earth if he tried to cross her. If anyone tried to cross her.

Anyone.

Blackfire watched with cautious eyes as Red X tapped in the super-secret cell phone number onto a pay phone, and as a peppy, probably female voice answered. _Hello, this is Jamie's Ice Cream Plaza! We are not open right now but please feel free to stop by from 8 to 5, Monday through Friday and we'll see what we can do._ Red X interrupted the automatic message. "Greg," he snarled. "I know you monitor this line. It's Red. And you still owe me. I'll be near the hospital on Elm. If you won't, then you know what happens." He hung up.

"That sounded an awful lot like threats," Blackfire observed.

Red X grinned beneath his mask; she knew because she saw his eyes crinkle. "If he's smart, he'll know I can't carry out any of what I implied I was planning to do unless I know where he is. But Gregory's never been the brightest crayon in the box."

Blackfire smirked.

The tall, dark-haired man before her did not look stupid. Blackfire studied him from above as he and Red X talked in lowered voices.

Then suddenly, Gregory began speaking much more loudly. "So, Rex, why don't'cha tell me where your sniper is?"

Red X's eyes narrowed. Obviously his real name wasn't Rex.

"Come on, I know you've got one. I would, in your shoes. Army trained? Or – " Gregory looked up and spotted Blackfire quickly. A slow, charming grin spread over his face. " – a Tamaranean. Impressive."

Blackfire didn't bother trying to camouflage herself against the night sky any longer, instead floating downward as she flexed the correct muscles in her hand and focused her mind to create a ball of energy surrounding her fist. The sheeplike native Tamaraneans - the very people that she had taken an oath to protect when she had claimed the throne - believed that feeling fueled their powers; they were, however, incorrect. Blackfire had learned by experimentation, trial and error that it was possible to remain cool and calculated while in battle, leaving emotions behind her to face her opponent with a logical mind.

So was this man an opponent?


End file.
